IKEA Living Room Hacks

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When it comes to furnishing your living room, IKEA is a go-to destination for many. With its affordable prices and stylish designs, IKEA furniture is a popular choice for those looking to create a comfortable and functional living space.

But there's the risk of your living room looking like an IKEA showroom if you use mainly IKEA furniture. With a little creativity and a few DIY skills, you can take your IKEA furniture to the next level and perhaps even get a few people saying, "I can't believe it's IKEA!"

From easy IKEA hacks like adding new legs to your sofa to creating custom built-in storage solutions, there are so many fabulous ways to tweak your IKEA pieces into pieces that are uniquely you. 

In this page, you'll find some of the best IKEA living room hacks to inspire your own DIY projects and help you create a space that's both stylish and functional.

Most Popular Posts on Living Rooms

Take ordinary IKEA furniture and transform them into something extraordinary. From custom built-ins to clever hidden work spaces, these living rooms showcase the creativity and ingenuity of IKEA hackers.

Whether you're looking to add some personality to your space or simply want to make the most of your IKEA furniture, these living room hacks are sure to inspire. So why not take a closer look and see how you can create a space that's stylish and functional?

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Bookshelves Sideboards Room Dividers

Living Room Storage

The wonder of IKEA hacking! Take IKEA furniture and modify them to fit your specific needs and space requirements.

You not only create a storage system that's tailored to your living room and the items you need to store, but also seamlessly match your style and taste.
Sideboard revival with LACK and KALLAX

Sideboard revival with LACK and KALLAX

Materials: LACK shelf with KALLAX bookcase We bought the shelves…

Bookshelf or Fireplace? I Couldn’t Decide.

Bookshelf or Fireplace? I Couldn’t Decide.

Materials: Two full-size and one narrow Hemnes bookshelves I had a…

Contemporary TV unit – Improvising with LACK!

Contemporary TV unit – Improvising with LACK!

There are many post & hacks that were done with…

DIY plywood doors for Ikea EXPEDIT shelf

DIY plywood doors for Ikea EXPEDIT shelf

Expedit shelf outer edges are hollow. You have to attach…

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Coffee table and side table hacks

IKEA coffee table hacks are very popular on IKEA hackers. They are smaller DIY projects and a great starting point if you're beginning your DIY journey. But they are no less amazing. Here are some popular IKEA coffee table hacks.
Collector Display Case – Granas Coffee Table Hack

Collector Display Case – Granas Coffee Table Hack

Materials: Granas coffee table Description: Maanzzon found this on Youtube…

Hemnes Beautified Barnboard Coffee Table

Hemnes Beautified Barnboard Coffee Table

Materials: Hemnes Square Grey Brown Coffee Table Description: I loved…

Lack TV Unit (again) Coffee Table

Lack TV Unit (again) Coffee Table

Materials: Lack TV Unit, 2x Lack Side Tables, Rill Caster…

A stencilled Lack coffee table

A stencilled Lack coffee table

Materials: Stencils, paint, primer Description: Michael’s stencils and a weekend…

Silver coffee LACK table

Silver coffee LACK table

Materials: Lack side table, leatherette, silver paint, furniture molding; hammer,…

Recycled Pallets and 2 Ikea Lacks Made an awesome Rustic Coffee Table

Recycled Pallets and 2 Ikea Lacks Made an awesome Rustic Coffee Table

Materials: 2 old hardwood pallets and 2 IKEA lack tables.…

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IKEA Bookshelf Hacks

Other than the fact that IKEA bookshelves are made to store a lot of stuff, they are affordable and so hackable. Which makes them a popular choice for built-in bookshelf hacks and so much more. Here are our top IKEA Bookshelf Hacks.
MALM & BILLY Storage Wall

MALM & BILLY Storage Wall

Storage-wall based on MALM and BILLY shelves. Me and my…

BILLY Built-Ins for home office

BILLY Built-Ins for home office

Materials: BILLY We added 1×8′s around the bottoms and 1×2′s…

Frosta X: Take 2

Frosta X: Take 2

Splinternet revisits the fabulous Frosta X hack by Andreas Bhend.…

Backwards Billy TV Mount in Built-Ins (with Clock)

Backwards Billy TV Mount in Built-Ins (with Clock)

Materials:  Besta shelf unit (47.25″ x 15.75″ x 25.25″) with…

The de-squaring and shelf-itizing of an Expedit unit

The de-squaring and shelf-itizing of an Expedit unit

Materials: One Lack shelving unit, one-4X4 Expedit and one-1X1 Expedit Confession, I…

The Angled-High Wall Unit

The Angled-High Wall Unit

Materials: LERBERG Shelves (60×148 cm) dark grey To create this modular…

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All our IKEA Living Room Hacks

Make Ingolf bigger

Make Ingolf bigger

Materials: INGOLF Lately we visited the Ikea here in the Netherlands Barendrecht and they were redecorating their restaurant. That meant a big plus for us as they were selling their used Ingolf stools for € 2,50 a piece in the as-is corner. That meant a no brainer and we decided…

Besta Based Credenza

Besta Based Credenza

The base is made of BESTÅ cabinets: 2 * BESTÅ extension unit ($50.00, Width: 47 1/4 “, Depth: 15 3/4 “, Height: 15 “) 1 * BESTÅ extension unit ($35, Width: 23 5/8 “, Depth: 15 3/4 “, Height: 15 “) Overall 5 cabinets to achieve a linear length of…

VITTSJÖ Nesting Table turned Chic Cocktail Ottoman

VITTSJÖ Nesting Table turned Chic Cocktail Ottoman

I wanted a cocktail ottoman to use as a table and footrest, in some great color, probably tufted, with a little gold to tie in with the rest of the room. Couldn’t find it. When I saw the surprisingly sturdy VITTSÖ nesting tables at IKEA I instantly knew how I was going…

IKEA wall storage BESTÅ hack

Hacking BESTÅ cabinets into full wall-to-wall storage

We quickly decided on a BESTÅ cabinet to conceal all our belongings. However, we soon realized that the cabinet would likely accumulate dust on top, which posed a problem. So, once again, we gathered our tools to transform the cabinet into a wall unit. But first, we needed to construct…

Elevated long bookcase

Elevated long bookcase

Materials: 1 x 5 Expedit x 2 We have a long wall that we wanted to turn into a mini library area. We’re really into the mid-century modern clean design aesthetic. We didn’t want to spend thousands on furniture and couldn’t find bookshelf with legs to save our lives. We…

IKEA Built-In Bookcase wall (Billy, Effektiv, Lack)

IKEA Built-In Bookcase wall (Billy, Effektiv, Lack)

This wall of 6 Billy bookcases (slightly cut down) and 4 Effektiv cabinets and 2 Effektiv drawer units was added under a new framed-in and dry-walled soffit/architrave topper and forward extended end pillar. This feature has up and down lighting & speakers, while there are display lights in the top…

LERBERG² industrial sideboard

LERBERG² industrial sideboard

Few months ago I bought 2 Lerberg CD/DVD shelves. They ended being useless, since I don’t use the obsolete plastic discs anymore… What to do now with those shelves? Two Lerberg CD/DVD shelves + Oak floorboards = a perfect sideboard in a corridor! You will need: -2 IKEA Lerberg CD/DVD…

Diamond Tufted Kulla Pendant Lamp Ottoman

Diamond Tufted Kulla Pendant Lamp Ottoman

Materials: KULLA Pendant Lamp I was at IKEA going through there As-Is section and came across 2 Kulla Lamp shades for $5. These things are seriously sturdy, which made me think outside of the box about what else they could be used for. I actually published my own blog post…

Bestå goes Arabesque

Bestå goes Arabesque

I was trying to find a TV stand that would be 160x50x50 cm. The ones that I found were either far too pricey or would need to have doors open to control the AV receiver. And less than 50 cm deep. I first planned to hack Expedit but saw in…

Mid Century Style Credenza

Mid Century Style Credenza

Materials: FAKTUM I made this vintage style credenza using three Faktum (or Akurum) kitchen cabinets that I had in my previous flat. For some time now, I wanted a beautiful vintage teak credenza but the ones I found were always too expensive. So I thought I could give a makeover…

Multi-configuration Rotating Coffee Table

Multi-configuration Rotating Coffee Table

Materials: 3 Ikea Lack side tables 55x55cm; 1 Perfekt plinth; 2 lazy susan bearings; one pot of strong contact adhesive. Step 1: Cut the plinth into 4 equal lengths and attach together to form a square base. Cut a piece of mdf to size and nail onto the top. Step…

3 Ikea Tarva Dressers into 1 Shaker style dresser

3 Ikea Tarva Dressers into 1 Shaker style dresser

Materials: TARVA dresser x 3 Here’s what I did: Used a chop saw to cut off the bottom of the skinny 2×2 legs (before assembling dresser) and replaced them with 4×4′s cut to 4″ high. Filled the dresser handle holds with wood filler and sanded to remove essentially the existing…

Hairpin Expedit for the hall

Hairpin Expedit for the hall

Unfortunately I didn’t take any in progress pictures because I was under some time constraints with this project. This is my first Ikea hack, but 99% of things in my bookmarks come from this very site. I didn’t really think out the pattern for the top of hack before I…

Ribba Shelf Upgrade

Ribba Shelf Upgrade

Materials: ORSA drawer fronts x 2, RIBBA shelves x 2, Hangers x 2, Screws x 6 Using two RIBBA (21 inch) picture shelves and two drawer fronts (I think Orsa 7 3/4 x 6 1/4 inches) from the as-is bin. I positioned the bottom of the RIBBA’s two inches from…

BESTA storage footstool

BESTA storage footstool

Since our couch was always covered with not-so-fancy fleece blankets and several cushions, we were in need of some extra storage. With the kids growing we could also use a footstool to be able to sit comfortably in the couch all together. Finally I bought a BESTA cupboard, put 4…

LACKing legs

LACKing legs

Materials: Lack tables x 4; Grundtal spotlight set I made a nice chunky piece of furniture to hold my deep set top box. I joined the Lack tables to make a cube with simple metal brackets – the chunky sides made it easy to get square. I drilled some holes…

Reclaimed wood Billy

Reclaimed wood Billy

Materials: BILLY bookcase I took the shorter Billy book shelf and using the materials made two 2-part cabinets. I constructed the 16 drawers from reclaimed boards and glued cedar to the top of each cabinet to match the drawer fronts and to give it a nice top that would hide…

TOFTA Fireplace Surround

TOFTA Fireplace Surround

  Used pieces of Besta Tofta Bamboo (cut piece for sides and draw fronts for top pieces) to cover ugly green tiles around fireplace. Then used Besta Tofta Black on floor for one piece gloss fireplace threshold. Granite estimate of $2800 finished all in for under $150.

Siamese RAST Twins

Siamese RAST Twins

Having been inspired by many other RAST hacks we proudly present our own! Materials: – 2 RAST chest of drawer – 3 BESTA push openers sets – 2 pine wood boards (1225 x 300 x 18 mm) – 1 pine wood beam (888 x 50 x 50 mm) – 2…

Secret bookcase door

Secret bookcase door

I used the Billy Bookcase. 3 x 30″ bookcase. 1 x 15″ bookcase. 1 Pax wardrobe with glass door The two sections on the right are fixed with a 1/2″ and 3/4″ plywood on the back for rigidity. The door has the same plywood on the back, this keeps the…

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